One of my biggest annoyances with HD is the "Defense" attribute for players. Its very easy to recruit for just athleticism and defense while neglecting most other attributes. There are too many elite defensive teams and it seems impossible to win a championship without a team average of 90+ in defense and athleticism (not counting walk-ons).

On the flip side, its much more difficult to recruit great offensive teams because offense is encompassed by several attributes such as speed, athleticism, perimeter, low post, passing, ball handling, etc. It would be nice if there were more parity between offense and defense.

What if there were more defensive attributes instead of just "Defense" with secondary attributes of speed and athleticism. Maybe instead of "Defense", recruits could have 2 or 3 attributes like "Defensive Footwork", "Lateral Quickness", etc. I'm sure a few of you could think of much better options, but I'm just spit-balling.

Of course, this would require some major coding changes (so we know it will never happen). And we all know there are several more pressing issues facing HD at the moment. Ahhh, but a man can dream.

All they need to do is turn down the defense value. Which I've lobbied for forever.

Defense and athleticism mean way too much in this game. It would also help if IQ mattered more AND if every player couldn't reach high IQ status. A player with a 2.0gpa and 35 WE is never going to have an A hoops IQ. A highly skilled offensive player with a low WE is never going to bother to learn defense. At the same time an absolutely ruthless defender who can't shoot is never going to spend much time learning offense.

That's a really good point. Defense is mostly about effort, so it doesn't make sense that a low work ethic player could become an elite defender. I'm not sure about GPA though. School intelligence and basketball intelligence are two completely different things.

"There are really only two plays... Romeo and Juliet, and put the darn ball in the basket." - Abe Lemons
"Good basketball always starts with good defense." – Bob Knight

Work Ethic is about practice it is not about game time effort. Even low work ethic players can play well on game day.

"We sitting in here -- I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we in here talking about practice. I mean, listen: We talking about practice. Not a game. Not a game. Not a game. We talking about practice. Not a game. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it's my last. Not the game. We talking about practice, man."--Allen Iverson

work ethic isnt a great label for what that number really means

it isnt about how hard you play or try

a better but less snappy label would be improvement rate

Defense and athleticism go hand in hand and are automatically programmed into the game. But for sure, too many 90/90 Ath/Def guys, those ratings should be given to the truly elite.

The real culprit of a teams success is athleticism, because it enhances most other skills. It's not uncommon for a team with no offensive talent, but very high
in athleticism to shoot 50% as a team for the season. Athleticism also limits the number of fouls a team will commit.

Defense just mostly limits the other teams field goal percentage.

Posted by thewizard17 on 5/7/2019 3:51:00 AM (view original):
Defense and athleticism go hand in hand and are automatically programmed into the game. But for sure, too many 90/90 Ath/Def guys, those ratings should be given to the truly elite.

The real culprit of a teams success is athleticism, because it enhances most other skills. It's not uncommon for a team with no offensive talent, but very high
in athleticism to shoot 50% as a team for the season. Athleticism also limits the number of fouls a team will commit.

Defense just mostly limits the other teams field goal percentage.

Really good points about athleticism. So maybe athleticism should be broken down into a few more attributes (footwork, vertical jumping, etc). That would be interesting.

Basically I see some of the other sims like soccer and HBD, and the players have so many more attributes. It would be harder to recruit the overall perfect player, but you can get a guy that's more suited to your offense/defense/play style. I guess there's more room for a coach's personal expression by adding attributes.